1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for grinding input material.
2. Description of the Background Art
Devices of this class are known, for example, from DE 202 16 056, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,463, or from DE 202 08 606. The disk mills disclosed there are characterized by a grinding chamber, surrounded by a housing, in which grinding tools rotating around a central axis of rotation are arranged. The grinding tools in this case are located at an axial distance, with maintenance of an identical radial distance from the axis of rotation and thus form a rotationally symmetric grinding gap in which the grinding work takes place.
The input material is introduced axially into the central area of the grinding chamber and then deflected in a radial direction, where it is taken up and ground by the profiled surfaces of the rotating grinding tools.
During the operation of a conventional device of this class, grinding tools are exposed to high mechanical stress, which among other things depends on the type and purity of the input material. As a result, natural wearing of the grinding tools takes place, which with increasing tool lifetime increasingly impairs the quality of the final product. Therefore as a result of wear it is necessary to replace the used grinding tools with new ones at regular intervals.
Another reason for the frequent changing of grinding tools is the adaptation of a device of this class to a different material to be ground or a different end product to be achieved. Especially in the case of contract grinding, the input material can vary from one contract to the next, so that adaptation of the grinding tool to the varying input material through the use of suitable grinding tools is necessary.
Naturally, each change in the grinding tools is necessarily linked with considerable shutdown times of the grinding device, resulting in production shutdowns for the operator of the device. The shutdown times thus have an important influence on the operating economy of a device of this class.